Indicia holder for telephones



' Jan. 18, 1938.

D. cox 2,105,685

INDICIA HOLDER FOR TELEPHQNES Filed Nov. 20, 1936 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES:

INVENTOR:

v A I 501" z 11 Cox, fi ffii y. BY

Jan. 18, 1938. cox 2,105,685

INDICIA HOLDER FOR TELEPHONES Filed Nov. 20; 1956 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

. George )0. Cox

ORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 20, 1936, Serial No. 111,76

Claims.

This invention relates to'indicia holders for telephones; and it has reference more particularly to indicia holders of the kind featured in U. S. Patent No. 1,845,650, granted to me on ll February 16, 1932, havinga pocket at the rear for accommodation of a card or series of strips bearing the subscribers number for exposure at a frontal window opening.

In'the patented construction, two individual 10; parts or pieces were required in addition to a window component to form the pocket, the individual formation and subsequent handling of which in assembling, added considerably to the cost of manufacture of the holder.

One of the aims of my present invention is to overcome the drawbacks just referred to with a view toward increasing production and, at the same time, economizing material, which desiderata I attain, as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provision'of a single substitute backing component having an outwardly-offset portion, which, in conjunction with one of the faces of the window component, affords the pocket for the indicia.

Another aim of my invention is to'enlarge upon the utility of the indicia holders of the kind referred to, which objective is attained also as hereinafter more fully disclosed, by forming the pocket with stops at different levels to definitely allocate different cards or strips so that the characters on them are aligned at corresponding levels for exposure through the frontal window opening.

Another object of my invention is to secure the, foregoingadvantages in an indicia holder of circular configuration designed for accommodation in a correspondingly shaped recess in the base of a telephone or in an associated call dial, and having provisions whereby its shape can be easily and quickly changed so that it may be used in the standard shield frames ordinarily secured behind the mouth piecesof telephone instruments of the desk type. 1

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following detailed description ofithe attached drawings, wherein Fig. I is a perspective view showing one form of my improved indicia holder as it appears when viewed I from the front. Fig. 11 is a similar viewshowing the holder as it appears from the rear.

Fig. III shows the holder in vertical section. Figs. IV, V, and VI are perspective views of h na tse omp n h h. ent r in o th construction o t e. holderdials associated with the telephones. As deline- V ated, the holder I is constructed throughout from .2

sheet material preferably of a non-metallic, noninflammable, non-conducting character, for example, as cellulose acetate, and made up, in this instance, of three individual components which are respectively designated 2, 3, and 4 and separately illustrated in Figs. IV-VI. The component 2 is blanked from relatively stiff opaque material of substantial thickness to the general configuration of the holder, and provided with a horizontally elongate upper window opening 5 of'which the upper half 6 extends somewhat beyondthe ends of the lower half 1, and a parallel lower window; opening 8 of a length equal to that of the lower half of said upper window opening, the two windows being vertically separated by a blank interval 9. The component 3 is likewise given the general; configuration of the holder, but blanked from thinner material which is clear and transparent as conventionally indicated by the surface shading in Figs. I and V. The. third component 4', on the other hand, is of segmental configuration with rounded side edges ID corresponding; in curvature-with the peripheries of the components 2 and 3, and with horizontally parallel top and bottom edges H and I2. The component 4 is moreover, formed with outwardly displaced upper and lower ofisets l3 and [4; which respectively correspond in size, shape, and posi- 10: it the upper nd pwe w n ow n n 5 and 8 of the component 2, and which are e ra d b an un nde a riern r h q n inlay be c nomica y ro c b a d rs p e o rat n an h n. mad from cellulose acetate or the like, the material is preferably preheated to avoid fracture in stamping. It is to be especially noted thatQt he cross ec na dept f the up r q iis 0 he m oeent 1 s. erprq' telrfw s a of tee-l ermos '4. the reason newbi s. wi become aiiearent r m urth inception The side shoulders !6 which define the upper half of the offset l3 perform an important function which will be explained later on. When the three components are assembled and secured together in superimposition in the relation shown in Figs. IIII to form the holder, the component 3 serves as a transparent protective covering over the window openings 5 and 8 of the component 2; while in conjunction with the contiguous face of said component 2, the back component 4 forms upper and lower pockets l1 and I 8 behind the window openings 5 and 8, which pockets are respectively accessible from above and below. The upper pocket I! is intended for the reception of a card l9 bearing for example, the station name for the district in which the telephone is used with the characters appearing in the upper half of the window and the bottom edge of the card resting on the shoulders [6 of the component 4, and also for reception of another card or a series of juxtapositioned strips 20 bearing characters which together compose the station number, the individual characters being' aligned for display at the lower portion 7 of the upper window opening 5 with the ends of the strips resting on the upper ledge of the barrier I5 which defines the bottom of the upper pocket l1. It'is to be noted from Fig. III that the number strips 20 are inserted behind the name card 19 to avoid concealment of the station name, and that the cross-sectional depth of said pocket is such that the card and the number strips are accommodated with a snug fit and thus effectively retained in position by friction. The lower pocket I 8 is proportioned to receive a single card or a single series of juxtapositioned strips 2| and 22 respectively bearing the abbreviation EXT. and characters which compose the extension number of the particular telephone instrument with which the holder is used. The strips 20-22 may be made up in book form after'the' manner disclosed in Patent No.

1,845,650, he'reinbefore referred to, and selected I in accordance with the numbers which are to be composed. After insertion into the pockets I1 and I8 ofthe holder, the" projecting ends of the strips 20-22 are cut or torn off flush with the periphery of the holder in readiness for placement of the latter into its receiving recess on the telephone instrument. The components 24 may be secured together in any convenient manner as by cementing or when a fusible material like cellulose acetate is employed, they may be permanently 'joined by application of heat and pressure.

In'order that the holder may be adapted for use in shield frames such as are-ordinarily attached behind the mouth pieces of telephones of the desk type, the same has been scored as shown at 23 and'24 along concentrically curved lines so that the subdivided top andbottom portions can be broken away. The scoring may be done either after the holder is assembled or during the blanking of the individual components, as shown in Figs. IV-'-VI. r

The modified form of my invention designated la. in Figs. VII-IX is like thefirstdescribed embodiment except in that both the upper and lower windowopenings 5a and 8a are of single width and the pockets [la and la respectively so proportioned to receive only individual cards or series of strips bearing, for example the station name and the telephone subscribers number. In order to preclude the necessity for repetitive description, all other features of the modified form having their counterparts in the first described embodiment have been identified with the same reference numerals previously used with the let-' ter a added in each instance for the purpose of distinction.

In Figs. X-XII, I have shown another modified form of my improved indicia holder with but a single window opening 5b which is centrally located and is adapted to receive a card or series of strips 201) bearing the subscribers number. Here again, the construction is otherwise identical with that of the first described embodiment with the identical parts designated by the same reference numerals distinguished by addition, in. each instance, of the letter 1).

If desired, the transparent component may be omitted in any or all of the three illustrated embodiments of the holder.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An indicia holder for telephones and the like, constructed from sheet material with a window opening, and a pocket behind said opening having pairs of horizontal ledges at opposite sides thereof and at different vertical levels defining subdivisions of diiTerent widths whereof the narrowest is at the bottom of the pocket and the widest at the top, for receiving cards of like widths one behind another with the bottom edges of the cards stopped by the respective pairs of ledges and with indicia bearing portions of such cards exposed at corresponding diiferent levels at the window opening.

2. An indicia holder for telephones and the like, according to claim 1, of circular configuration with crosswise scorings respectively above and below thewindow opening and the pocket.

3. An indicia holder for telephones according to claim 1,-fashioned from non-inflammable dielectric material like cellulose acetate.

4. An indicia holder for telephones and the like, constructed from sheet material with a pair of vertically-spaced Window openings, and pockets behind said openings accessible respectively from above and below, the upper pocket having pairs of horizontal ledges at opposite sides thereof and at different vertical levels defining subdivisions of different widths whereof the narrowest is at the bottom of said upper pocket and the widest at the top, for receiving cards of like widths one behind another with the bottom edges of the cards stopped by the respective pairs of ledges and with indicia bearing portions of such cards exposed at corresponding different levels at the upper window opening, and the lower pocket being proportioned to receive a single card for exposure of an indicia bearing portion of the latter at the lower window.

5. An indicia holder for telephones according to claim 4, fashioned from non-inflammable dielectric material like cellulose acetate.

6. An indicia holder for telephones and-the like according to claim 4, of circular configuration with cross-wise scorings respectively above the upper window opening and below'the lower window opening. 1 i

7. An indicia holder for telephones and the like constructed from sheet material components, including a component with a pair of verticallyspaced horizontally-elongate window; openings;

and a superimposed component having correspondingly-allocated outwardly offset portions forming'jointly with the contiguous face of the first component, pockets respectively accessible from above and below, the upper pocket having pairs of horizontal ledges at opposite sides thereof and at different vertical levels defining subdivisions of difierent widths whereof the narrowest is at the bottom of said upper pocket and the widest at the top, for receiving cards of like widths one behind another, with the bottom edges of the cards stopped by the respective pairs of ledges and with indicia bearing portions of such cards exposed at corresponding different levels at the upper window opening, and the lower pocket being proportioned to receive a single card for exposure of an indicia bearing portion of the latter at the lower window opening.

8. An indicia holder for telephones according to claim '7, with its components all fashioned from non-inflammable dielectric material like cellulose acetate and permanently united by cementing or fusion.

9. An indicia holder for telephones and the like constructed from sheet material components, including an opaque component with a pair of vertically-spaced horizontally-elongate window openings; a transparent component superimposed upon one of the faces of the first component for protection of the window openings; and a third component superimposed upon the other face of the first component having vertically spaced ofiset portions respectively in the rear of the two window openings forming jointly with the contiguous face of the first component, pockets respectively accessible from above and below, the upper pocket having pairs of horizontal ledges at opposite sides thereof and at different vertical levels defining subdivisions of difierent widths whereof the narrowest is at the bottom of said upper pocket and the widest at the top, for receiving cards of like widths one behind another with the bottom edges of the cards stopped by the respective pairs of ledges and with indicia bearing portions of such cards exposed at corresponding difierent levels at the upper window opening, and the lower pocket being proportioned to receive a single card for exposure of an indicia bearing portion of the latter at the lower window opening.

10. An indicia holder for telephones according to claim 9, with its components all fashioned from non-inflammable dielectric material like cellulose acetate and permanently united by cementing or by fusion.

GEORGE D. COX. 

